Taiwan lifts newspaper liquor ad ban

TAIPEI -- Taiwan's Ministry of Finance has agreed to lift a ban on advertising alcoholic beverages in newspapers. Vice Finance Minister Yen Ching-chang says the ministry will immediately inform the government's Information Office, the official body charged with overseeing media affairs, of the decision.

Yen says that the move was in response to a recent petition by newspaper owners who appealed to the government for equal treatment following the lifting of the ban against liquor advertisements by the electronic media on June 1.